News by Julie
Top Ten Summer Classics
Is there anything better than a summery read to get you into a sunny mood? Or a summery novel to read on your holiday? To get you into the spirit, we have chosen our top ten summer classics.
Is there anything better than a summery read to get you into a sunny mood? Or a summery novel to read on your holiday? To get you into the spirit, we have chosen our top ten summer classics.
Here we go again! Christmas 2022 is nearly here. In a year when we all have had to tighten our pursestrings, I can’t think of a better present than a book. It’s relatively cheap, give hours and hours of pleasure (sometimes even years), can be shared and is plastic-free – what more can you ask for? 2022 has been a year of new discoveries for us. Most of the books on our list are by authors we hadn’t heard of before or debutants. We have also dug in the pile of classics – some of which we had read before and wanted to re-experience, others that were new to us. Neither have disappointed. We also have a range of children’s books suitable for different age groups and tastes and there’s loads more in our Young Readers section. So here it is, the list of Bookstoker’s best reads this year. Wishing you all a happy holiday season!
Lost track of the many literary prizes and literary dates? Just missed the announcement of the Booker or Pulitzer prize winners? Join the club! Even we struggle to keep up. Here’s a bit of help with all the important dates for the literary calendar. We’ve focused mainly on dates for the UK except some internationally significant book prizes and festivals. Please let us know in the comment field below if we missed any (which we surely have)!
For those who don’t think the world is scary enough as it is, here’s a selection of our favourite spine-chilling ghost stories. If you want to freak out your children too, we have some for them as well…Enjoy!
The 29 year old Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld and the translator Michele Hutchinson ran away with the International Man Booker Prize 2020 yesterday for the book The Discomfort of the Evening. Rijneveld (who prefers to be addressed as they) tells the story of a boy who dies in an accident after his sister, following an argument, wishes he’d die instead of her rabbit. Loosely based on Rijneveld’s own experiences, they grew up on a farm in a deeply religious family and also lost a brother, the book deals with the piousness, loss and delusions. Haven’t read this one myself but sounds worthwhile if you’re ready for something serious. Here’s the best of the rest:
Having spent the better part of my 20s living in New York City, I have a huge soft spot for this iconic place. I crave books that bring back the noises, the buzz, the beauty, the people and the grittiness of the city. Here’s a selection of some of the very best ones.
So now that the summer holidays are in sight, what will you be reading? The good news is that while we’ve all been locked up at home, some fabulous books have been published. We just haven’t been able to see them displayed in our local bookshops. So here they are, our favourite books over the past few dark months which we can guarantee will brighten up your summer.
‘A boy won’t read shark books forever’- Jon Scieszka, author and founder of GuysRead.com.
We all know that children are made bookworms on the laps of their parents but how do we sustain that momentum, particularly with the classic ‘reluctant boy reader’? The key seems to be to avoid parental dictatorship. It may be a bitter pill to swallow but they’re often not interested in what you read when you were twelve! With this in mind, we’ve selected a lovely mix of books for boys. Here’s hoping they find their very own book magic.